Basketball fans can get a welcome reprieve from the offseason. The 2022-23 NBA season remains weeks away, but NBA stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic are back in action overseas. EuroBasket 2022, this year’s installment of the quadrennial basketball tournament, offers bettors plenty of betting value — if they’re willing to do the research. Here are the top bets and predictions for Matchday 1 of EuroBasket 2022.
EuroBasket 2022 Betting Odds & Picks: Matchday 1
Turkey -7.5 | -110 at DraftKings
Turkey will face Montenegro on Friday at 10:15 a.m. EST. The Turkish men’s national team is a sleeper in Group A play and could make some noise in the knockout stage. NBA players Alperen Sengun, Furkan Korkmaz and Cedi Osman will lead the way for Turkey on offense. All three are capable scorers who can contribute on both the offensive and defensive ends.
Turkey just held Serbia, the tournament favorite led by Nikola Jokic, to only a 7-point win in FIBA World Cup qualifying play last week. Sengun, Korkmaz and Osman combined for 57 points in the narrow loss. Montenegro has no player of Jokic’s caliber. Star Montenegrin center Nikola Vucevic opted to sit the tournament out, leaving one-time NBA draft pick and EuroLeague star Bojan Dubljevic to lead the way. But Dubljevic couldn’t lead Montenegro past Lithuania in World Cup qualifying play, and his team lost by 17.
The Turkish men’s national team is rightfully favored and should cover. BetMGM lists Turkey as an 8.5-point favorite, and FanDuel has the juice stacked in their favor. Head to DraftKings for the best deal on the market.
Ukraine -5.5 | -115 at BetMGM
The Ukrainians deserve a wider spread. The British men’s national team is atrocious. The squad dropped both of its World Cup qualifying matches last week to Latvia and Belgium. They also lost to Turkey and Greece without their NBA stars earlier this summer.
The United Kingdom earned the fifth-worst efficiency rating across World Cup qualifying play. In contrast, the Ukrainians ranked seventh best. Although three of their last four qualifying matches ended in losses, all were close and two were against far better teams, Spain and Italy. The Ukrainians topped both North Macedonia and Georgia earlier in the summer too.
Ukrainian staters Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (who was recently waived by the Raptors) and Alex Len (who missed all of last year’s NBA season with an injury) both come into this tournament with something to prove. Look for them to top a British team completely devoid of NBA talent.
Finland -3 | -105 at DraftKings
Finland will face Israel at 8 a.m. EST on Saturday. Led by Lauri Markkanen, the Finns are coming off wins over Estonia and Israel in World Cup qualifying play. They beat Estonia by eight behind an 18-point showing from Markkanen. Likewise, they beat Israel by 6 behind his 28 points.
Israel had no answer for Markkanen less than a week ago, so they probably won’t have one now. Markkanen led all players in both scoring and rebounds. Israel’s Deni Avdija, a forward for the Washington Wizards, played only 17 minutes and went 30% from the floor with just four rebounds. Yam Madar, a guard stashed by Boston Celtics, scored 11 points off the bench.
The Finns are 3.5-point favorites elsewhere, with the juice stacked in their favor. Buying them as mere 3-point favorites at DraftKings — with the near-even juice of -105 — feels like a solid bet ahead of Matchday 1.
